Excl: Batman sequel news

I don't have all of the details just yet, but Mike
Sampson and Johnny Moreno just called me with this update a few
minutes ago, so here's what I know so far. Being in SHOWEST,
they were able to speak to many different people and apparently a WB
rep told them that several "big things" would be announced
during this Thursday's WB press conference regarding the next BATMAN
movie and that not only is Christopher Nolan returning behind
the camera, but a few other choice nuggets as well:

- The film will be titled: BATTLE FOR GOTHAM.
I can't say that I'm crazy about the title, but maybe they'll change
it by the time the film is released in 2011. It will apparently be
the final part of the Nolan trilogy though and hopefully it will be
a massive scale fight for the city...

- Johnny Depp is officially discussing
the possibility of coming on board as The Riddler (apparently he and
Bale got really close during the filming of Michael Mann's PUBLIC
ENEMIES last year). This isn't 100% just yet, but it's close...

- TITANIC director James Cameron will apparently
attend the BATTLE FOR GOTHAM press conference on Thursday, which had
led to rumors about possibly bringing back the Joker in a small
cameo (flashback) and get this...it would be a computer-generated
version of Heath Ledger as the Joker using ultra-realistic
texture-mapping and advanced personality algorithms designed by
Cameron's company...

- The film will apparently be a much darker,
grittier version and seems geared to feature the fall (& rise)
of Gotham City, and would therefore be looking for a R-rating...

We're gonna be getting a lot more details tomorrow
(or click on the link below for more specific details), so stay
tuned to JoBlo.com for that, but for now, I'm pretty damn stoked
about all this news, as a darker version of BATMAN including Depp
and possibly even an "homage" to Ledger would be pretty
damn awesome, if you ask me.

I'm not crazy about computer-generated
"people" in movies, but according to many folks, James
Cameron has apparently perfected "CGI human beings"
for his next feature AVATAR and assured everyone that his firm would
be able to re-create Ledger and his actions (respectfully) for the
next film. Technology rocks!